The Challenge of the Rare Roast

Now I know what cutting diamonds feels like (well, sort of).

The rare coffee, cigar, steak or diamond businesses have a few things in common. The product is of the highest standard, the customers know what they are talking about and compare notes, the selection is often worldly and expensive, and learning about these items is fascinating. 

However, the risk accompanying selling these items is high. If there is an error in the order, on the part of the supplier or the vendor, the loss of revenue can be heartbreaking, not to mention unsold inventory if the product does not capture the imagination of the target market. Once in a lifetime Panama Hacienda Esmeralda coffee beans sold at auction at a split section in May requires the marketing power to sell the coffee while the fever about it is high. I imagine the same holds true for the newest Porche or solar technology. A mentor of mine once told me, "Lisa, sales is sales. The rest is romance."

One of rocketfuelcoffee.com's jewels in our line-up is Kopi Luwak. A most wonderful rare bean at $220 per pound, this is the legendary coffee in the movie, "The Bucket List", where Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson vow to drink it before they die. Made from the found droppings of Asian Palm Civets, the coffee is the most expensive and rarest beverage on earth. And it tastes damn good too. Read about it here.With the money and legend of course, comes carpet baggery, forgery and tall tales.

The Bucket List - Kopi Luwak 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVJqwCdzZnw

After 2 years of learning about rare coffee and having all kinds of coffee suppliers call on us to sell all kinds of weird beans, we found two Kopi Luwak bean farmers of repute. Trusted for authenticity, freshness and taste, these guys delivered consistent KL at the agreed price and in packaging that was at rocketfuelcoffee.com standards. Great. However, turns out, like unique, handmade rare products, one day is different than the next and constant supervision of anyone that came in contact with the beans was essential. A day of lighter roasting changed product. One batch, though not 100% proven, appeared to be stolen off site and replaced by an inferior bean and shipped to us. Espionage in rare coffee! Who knew?

We have a supplier who takes care of us on a personal level locally who we can look in the eye and ask what's what. George is my rock in the coffee business and without him I would be nowhere. But Toronto, Canada is not exactly in the coffee belt. Venturing further in the world has been the secret to my great coffees but at what risk and cost? Learning lessons the hard way (ok, the delicious way sometimes) is just something they cannot teach you in business school.

Cheers!

What is RARE coffee?

For a while now, www.rocketfuelcoffee.com has been describing its coffees as rare, and I thought it was about time to explain exactly what that means. To us it does not just mean expensive. Coffee is a passion to us and since drinking these fine brews we have spit more than a few out behind a tree or bush. Nice.

When starting www.rocketfuelcoffee.com,  the first coffee beans we learned about were Jamaican Blue Mountain and Hawaiian Kona varieties. Both were readily available, but shared the same issues in the marketplace. They were often sold fraudulently mixed with other beans to bring the price down. They were also sold as Kona-like or Jamaican style.

So to have 100% pure certified beans, fresh roasted on site from the supplier in Toronto where they were bagged and labeled was a definite marketing point.

The issue here is these beans are only grown in a specific place on earth, and must be certified to be from that place. The same strict rules apply to a fine Cuban cigar, a healthy serving of Single Malt Scotch, a genuine grass fed USDA Prime ribeye steak,  a modest bottle of red wine, or a platter of fresh PEI oysters. Interestingly enough, the price tag on each of these indulgences is $25, give or take.

Back to our rare coffees. www.rocketfuelcoffee.com  follows blogs, auctions, forums and coffee reviews, and one fine resource is the list of the 10 most expensive coffees in the world, of which we have carried four, including Kopi Luwak, Hacienda Esmeralda, Jamaican Blue Mountain and El Socorro, winner of the Cup of Excellence prize. These coffees may only be available in limited quantities and for a short time, but that is what makes them a valued treat.

Adding to the rare pleasure of the www.rocketfuelcoffee.com experience is the artwork on each package. A painting by company owner Lisa Rotenberg, chosen for each coffee variety such as Panama Carmen Estate or Queen Kong Nyeri AA.

Enjoy our rare coffees as each one comes available and watch for new ones as they are announce on Facebook, Twitter or register on our website for updates.